"Dust" and "Midway" - Codenames for Upcoming D&D Hardcovers

Tales from the Yawning Portal was codenamed Labyrinth. Curse of Strahd was Cloak, and Storm King's Thunder was Dagger (or vice versa). Now two new codenames have emerged, spotted by EN World member kettite. Dust is dated 19 Sep 2017, hardcover, $49.95, and Midway is dated 21 Nov 2017, hardcover, $49.95. These have both appeared over on edelweiss' catalog. They do not match the four unnamed RPG Accessories on Amazon. Engage speculation mode - two new hardcovers later this year!

Typically the September release has been an adventure, and the November release a rules book (Sword Coast Adventurers Guide; Volo's Guide to Monsters). WotC has been hinting at a "major rules expansion" for a while now.

My guess? Take it with a massive truckload of salt, but I'm going to guess that Dust is fey or fey wild related. Possible the thing Adventure Time's Pendleton Ward helped with. But it really is a wild guess.

"Labyrinth" name was related to Dungeons.
Dust could be related to sand?, desert? Maybe Darksun 5e with the Psionic rules? A new adventure set in the Anauroch or Zakhara? The lattest is less probable. I say this will be a Darksun adventure

My guess would also have to be the probably-too-obvious Dark Sun AP ('Dust' Athas is an arid world and has a feature called the Sea of Dust, doesn't it?; 'Midway' could be a WWII reference, so a very significant-to-the-world AP, maybe the overthrow of a Sorcerer King?)

Dark Sun seems likely for Dust, but (and this is probably wishful thinking) it could relate to Eberron's Lords of Dust. Hopefully Midway doesn't mean they feel they are half way to 6E... perhaps something circus-themed?

So far the September book has been an adventure and the November book has been a supplement. I am going to go out on a limb and say Dust is going to be an AP that has a travel/road/caravan element, possibly through the desert (does The Forgotten Realms have a Silk Road equivalent?) And maybe that means Midway is another part of the Realms outside the Sword Coast.

"Dust" could refer to the Lords of Dust of Eberron or the Dustmen of Planescape, but that seems unlikely. Unless the Ring of Winter appears in Yawning Portal, then we know that this will be a Forgotten Realms adventure (as promised in Storm King's Thunder).

"Midway" sounds like a code-name for the mechanical expansion, which usually comes in the middle of the edition cycle.

My guess would also have to be the probably-too-obvious Dark Sun AP ('Dust' Athas is an arid world and has a feature called the Sea of Dust, doesn't it?; 'Midway' could be a WWII reference, so a very significant-to-the-world AP, maybe the overthrow of a Sorcerer King?)

I think there's absolutely no chance that they would announce 2 adventures one right after another... is there?!

Recently I picked up the print on demand version of The Primal Order by Wizards of the Coast founder Peter Adkison. I have the original edition of the book, I managed to grab a copy of it back in the day, and I have the other published books for the unfortunately uncompleted game line. The idea behind The Primal Order was to build what they called a "capsystem" that would work as an overlay to other game systems, expanding them into new directions. The Primal Order line dealt with gods and clerics, an important part of many fantasy role-playing games.

One of the first rules they teach you in those pesky freshman-year composition courses is "know your audience." Before you sit down to write a text, consider who's going to be reading it and plan accordingly. When it comes to tabletop role-playing games, I've always considered the game master to be the primary audience of published adventures. Game masters are far more likely than players to read the text of an adventure, so why wouldn't a designer write with the game master in mind?

A lot has been made recently about specific games for gaming with your children. A lot of products in the last five years have focused on this with a wide variety options and feels from Hero Kids, Little Heroes and the upcoming Last Unicorn RPG from Playground Adventures. With that I thought I'd provide a review of a game I used for a long time to get kids into gaming – Steve Jackson Games's Toon.

Welcome back folks, it’s time for the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP, your one-stop spot for all the new and interesting material coming from your favorite ever-giving golem. In this go-round, we’ll pick up some new toys that got left out of the earlier look at Ultimate Wilderness, and also introduce a brand new Player Companion. Let’s get started!